Category Archives: 1995

Ruby

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rubyThe Ruby programming language was conceived on Feb 24th, 1993 by Yukihiro Matsumoto. It combined Perl-like syntax with object oriented features. Matsumoto has often stated that he wanted a scripting language more powerful than Perl but more object-oriented than Python.  Similar to other languages including Lisp, it’s written in C as an interpreted language.  The name Ruby was created before the code had been developed, and a large factor in this choice was because it was the birthstone of one of Matsumoto’s friends. Although the name has no exciting origins, Ruby has flourished as one of a class of newer, modern programming languages.

Ruby 0.95 was publicly released on Dec. 21st, 1995, followed by three more versions in two days. Version 1.0 was released on Christmas Day, 1996. In 2005 a web application framework written in Ruby, Ruby on Rails, was introduced. The framework quickly became quite popular and helped fuel adoption and recognition of Ruby itself.  An index that measures the growth of programming languages currently places Ruby at number nine among all languages worldwide. Ruby-Talk, the primary mailing list  for discussion of the Ruby language, has climbed to an average of 200+ messages per day.

Playstation

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playstationOriginally conceived in Japan in 1986, the first PlayStation was the result of Nintendo trying to work with disc technology. With the invention of CD-ROMS in 1985 by Sony and Philips, Nintendo approached Sony to develop a cd-rom addon to the SNES. For the next few years the two companies worked on the system and planned to announce it in 1991, but after realizing  their contract with Sony gave them control over any titles produced in the format Nintendo secretly cancelled all plans for the system.  In May of that year the chairman of Nintendo, Howard Lincoln, went on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show and announced a partnership with Philips instead of Sony.

Sony ultimately decided to keep working on the system and created a stand-alone console to compete with Nintendo. By 1992 Nintendo and Sony had worked out their differences after a federal lawsuit over the original contract, and Sony moved forward with developing the system on new software and hardware in 1993. The first PlayStation was released in Japan on December 3rd, 1994 and in North America September 9th, 1995 with an original price of $299. A successful launch was fueled by titles such as Battle Arena Toshinden, Warhawk, and Ridge Racer. The original PlayStation production run lasted over 11 years. The longest in the video game industry.

Apache

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apacheIn 1995, the Apache Group releases Apache 1.0-the first official version of the Apache Web server. Significantly, Apache is open source which allows the user to access the source code. Adapted for the first Web server, Apache quickly becomes the most popular web server software on the net.

Apache development began the year before in 1994 when Brian Behlendorf was working on establishing a web site for Wired magazine that included name and password functions. Adapting the first web server written by Rob McCool, he writes a “patch” of code that gets the server to do what he wants it to. Programmers from all over began sharing these patches and advice, and by 1995 the server had been completely rewritten. The group that created it called themselves the Apache Group and released the software. Within a year it’s the most popular server software online with it’s free price and open, customizable code.

Toy Story

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toystory-4In the first full-length computer-animated movie by Pixar, a little boy’s toys are thrown into chaos when a new Space Ranger arrives to vie for supremacy with the boy’s old favorite (a wooden cowboy). When the feuding toys become lost, they are forced to set aside their differences to get home. This extremely popular and successful film features the voice talents of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Laurie Metcalf, and others. Academy Award Nominations: 3, including Best Original Screenplay. Director John Lasseter also won a Special Achievement Academy Award for the film.

Ebay

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ebay1From Ebay’s Company Overview

Founded in September 1995, eBay is The World’s Online Marketplace for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and businesses. Today, the eBay community includes tens of millions of registered members from around the world. People spend more time on eBay than any other online site, making it the most popular shopping destination on the Internet.

Amazon

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amazonWhat started as Earth’s biggest bookstore is rapidly becoming Earth’s biggest anything store. A simple project that started in one man’s garage, Amazon.com’s main Web site offers millions of books, and numerous other services and merchandise.

Windows 95

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win95-2A major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system released in 1995. Windows 95 represents a significant advance over its precursor, Windows 3.1. In addition to sporting a new user interface, Windows 95 also includes a number of important internal improvements. Perhaps most important, it supports 32-bit applications, which means that applications written specifically for this operating system should run much faster. And although Windows 95 can run older Windows and DOS applications, it has essentially removed DOS as the underlying platform. This has meant removal of many of the old DOS limitations, such as 640K of main memory and 8-character file names.